Final arguments heard in Yandamuri evidence suppression hearing

COURTHOUSE — The man accused of killing an elderly woman and kidnapping a 10-month-old baby, resulting in her death, will have to wait to learn if evidence against him, including written statements made to police and a video confession, will be admitted at his murder trial.

The hearing on whether to suppress the evidence against Raghunandan Yandamuri, 27, formerly of Upper Merion, concluded Friday, and Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven O’Neill will schedule another hearing to announce his ruling on the defense’s motion.

Stephen Heckman, Yandamuri’s defense attorney, argued that when investigators met with his client on Oct. 25, 2012, at the Valley Forge Casino, it served as the “functional equivalent” of an arrest.

Heckman argued that Yandamuri felt trapped and that video from the casino showed his client being surrounded at all times by casino security on the way to the back room where Montgomery County Detective Paul Bradbury was waiting to speak with him. The initial meeting with the detective and the 13 hours Yandamuri spent at the Upper Merion police station amounted to the psychological coercion of his client, Heckman said.

He also argued that Yandamuri was forced to give his phone to Bradbury and was not given the option to drive his own vehicle to the Upper Merion police station for questioning.

Yandamuri was “consistently denied access to speak to his wife” while being questioned and was made to believe he was not allowed to leave the police station, Heckman said. The attorney also called into question Bradbury’s credibility by stating that during previous testimony in the suppression hearing, the detective remembered almost everything asked of him except whether Yandamuri asked to call his wife several times while with investigators.

In previous testimony, Bradbury stated he did not remember.

Deputy District Attorney Samantha Cauffman countered that if Bradbury wanted to lie about it, he would have just denied that Yandamuri asked to call his wife.

“It’s ridiculous to think he (Bradbury) would throw away his career to lie on the stand,” Cauffman said.

Cauffman argued that when detectives first encountered Yandamuri at the Valley Forge Casino, he was not a suspect, and that investigators were interviewing everyone who was close to the victim’s family.

She stated detectives became suspicious only when they notice a wound on Yandamuri’s hand and after his wife had said he wasn’t home for lunch during the killing. Yandamuri had previously told police he had been home at the time.

Yandamuri stated did not leave the police station because he did not want to, not because he was coerced into it, Cauffman said.

“Psychological coercion is doing something to make another go against their will and make them do something they wouldn’t do without that force,” Cauffman said after the hearing. “Psychological persuasion is what we all do. It’s what you do when you want your child to eat their dinner. You say, ‘Well, if you eat your dinner you can have some cookies afterwards’. Psychological persuasion is perfectly acceptable and it’s permissible.

“This was not a case of psychological coercion at all,” Cauffman continued. “This defendant has demonstrated throughout all of his statements and through his testimony that his will was not overborne.”

Judge O’Neill did not come out with a decision on the defense’s motion to suppress evidence and will schedule a hearing to announce his ruling. At that time he will also begin to hear arguments on the defense motion for a change of venue. O’Neill said his ruling on whether the evidence in question is suppressed will affect whether a change of venue is necessary. The defense also has a motion to stop prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty. O’Neill has not ruled on the death penalty motion yet.

Family members of the victims were in court Friday to see the last day of the suppression hearing.

“I don’t think you ever get over something like this. They’re coping the best they can and we’re doing everything we can to make this as easy as possible,” Cauffman said.

Yandamuri’s trial is slated to begin May 5.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, police responded to the Marquis Apartments in Upper Merion after fielding a 911 call that man found his mother dead in an apartment.

Upon arriving, police discovered the body of 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna and learned that her granddaughter, Saavni Venna, was missing. While in the apartment police discovered a ransom note using nicknames for Saavni’s parents.

The parents compiled a list of people who knew them by their nicknames, and investigators went down the list and interviewed those people. Yandamuri was on the list. Police picked him up at the Valley Forge Casino for questioning Oct. 25, and he confessed while in custody on the morning of Oct. 26.